> Ukraine was always a part of Russia until 1991, btw, there was never a separate country called "Ukraine" before 1991
For very limited definition of "always" - Ukraine existed in different forms since like 9th century, including being a part of Duchy of Lithuania, and then Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, until 1795. Then in 1918 western Ukraine became part of Poland again. Ukraine with the borders as we know them today (OK, pre-2014) was created after WWII, as a part of Soviet Union.
So no, Ukraine was never "a part of Russia", excluding the short periods when Russia conquered them by force.
For very limited definition of "always" - Ukraine existed in different forms since like 9th century, including being a part of Duchy of Lithuania, and then Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, until 1795. Then in 1918 western Ukraine became part of Poland again. Ukraine with the borders as we know them today (OK, pre-2014) was created after WWII, as a part of Soviet Union.
So no, Ukraine was never "a part of Russia", excluding the short periods when Russia conquered them by force.